Keep Getting "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen items from last session?" Even Though It's Not True

Anonymous
2023-07-05T13:34:20+00:00

This just started happening. Whenever I open Outlook, I get the message "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen items from last session?" even though this is not true -- I did not have items open when I closed Outlook. Using Windows 11. Screenshot of what version of Outlook I have:

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

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Anonymous
2023-07-07T17:46:51+00:00

I'm on build 2306. Is this the reg key in question?

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences
DWORD: ReopenWindowsOption
Value: 1

Yes.

Some users that updated to 2306 have reported that the key was not already in the Registry and had to add it and the value.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-08-27T15:20:30+00:00

    This was a fix I found online.

    This website gave me three options to try.

    The first was to edit the registry which only worked temporarily for me.

    https://droidwin.com/how-to-disable-outlook-closed-while-you-had-items-open-prompt/#:~:text=FIX%201%3A%20Using%20Registry%20Editor%201%20Bring%20up,%E2%80%98Outlook%20closed%20while%20you%20had%20items%20open%E2%80%99%20prompt.

    This was fix number two - again suggested and it worked for now. All it does is roll back to the previous version of outlook, before the bug was released in the newest update.

    https://droidwin.com/how-to-downgrade-ms-outlook-application/
    Still     NOT a permanent fix but until MS fixes the current bug, I'm unable to update to the "current" MS office updates.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-27T15:40:20+00:00

    If you see the message "Outlook closed while you had items open", you can try the following fixes

    • Use two instances of Outlook. Launch Outlook and click YES in the ‘Outlook closed while you had items open’ prompt. Then right-click on the Outlook icon in the taskbar. This will open a second instance of Outlook and you will no longer get the prompt in this window. Now close the first Outlook session so that only the second Outlook session remains on the taskbar.
    • Change the start-up options. Inside Outlook, select Options, then choose General from the left menu. Scroll down to Start Up Options and press the drop-down arrow to bring up the options. Choose "Open Outlook in this folder" and select the folder you want to open when Outlook starts.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-27T17:18:27+00:00

    I don't have the option to select anything in the "Start up options".

    However when I "unchecked" "Store my Outlook settings in the cloud" I stopped getting the message. I opened and closed Outlook. Then I rechecked the box, and opened and closed out look 6 times. It seems to have stopped completely. At least for now!

    When will this bug be fixed? I can't seem to find an answer in any of the hundreds of posts!

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-27T19:11:58+00:00

    Your second option doesn't work for some people, me included, because there is nothing listed under Startup Options in the General section of Outlook Options menu.

    That's part of the problem - something down there in the coding of Outlook is preventing some options to display while showing that blasted 'Reopen Items' popup when there isn't any items to be opened.

    Plus, I'm having that same idiotic problem just opening Outlook for the first time of the day - most times Outlook remains minimized on the taskbar, while other times it opens into a window, and then every fifth or sixth time, it opens into a window, opens the last email I read the previous night before shutting down, and gives me the 'Reopen Items?' popup.

    In other words, Outlook is NOT stable.

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